The purpose of this blog is to write about the politics of Congress in the age of Obama, following bills through Congressional action, explaining why things are and are not getting done, analyzing Congressional votes and handicapping political races and such. I bring to this blog a creepy knowledge of parliamentary procedure.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Daily Strike-5/11/10-What Happens While I'm Gone

Good evening and welcome to a brief Weekly Strike. I can't even get away for a few days without some major, major stuff happening in politics. Let's run it down very quickly.

1. Across the pond in Britain, David Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives, will become the next Prime Minister. His party didn't win a majority, so they will have to govern with the center-left Liberal Democrats. I suspect that Cameron and Obama are actually pretty similar ideologically (isn't that kinda sad?) and that they'll get along very well.

2. Two incumbent members of Congress have lost primary elections in the last couple of days, another sign of the massive anti-incumbent mood in the electorate right now. In Utah, Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) lost in his party's state convention, a bizarre process in which the nominee is chosen by Republican activists. Apparently, Bennett is too liberal because he voted for TARP and supported eliminating Medicaid and the employer tax benefit in his health care plan.

Tonight, incumbent Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan lost to state Senator Mike Oliverio in West Virginia. Mollohan was attacked by his Democratic opponent for supporting the health care bill and not being steadfast enough in opposition to Cap-and-Trade, which is lethal politically in coal-rich West Virginia. That's not the type of primary defeat I'm too thrilled about.

3. The financial reform bill is moving along in the Senate. Bernie Sanders' amendment to audit the Federal Reserve ended up passing unanimously, which is very interesting. Democrats were also succesful in beating a McCain amendment to include reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

That's it for now, I will go back to enjoying the sights of Vancouver. See you later!